Ex-Skye Bank Staff Bags 115 Years Imprisonment

A court in Lagos has sentenced a former banker identified as Jamiu Seun Odunayo to 115 years imprisonment. Odunayo was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before Lagos High court sitting in Igbosere, presided over by Justice Adebisi Akinlade.

Odunayo was convicted on Monday, February 17, 2014 with no option of fine over an offence which borders on fraud, stealing, and obtaining money under false pretence.

The EFCC accused the convict of stealing about N8.8 million belonging to a customer and diverted it for personal use.

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The convicts confessed that he used part of the money for his wedding; built a 4-bedroom bungalow in Mowe, Ogun state; bought a car, and used the rest for clubbing.

“Seun Jamiu Odunayo sometime on the 7th day of March 2011 in Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division whilst being a staff of Skye Bank Plc stole N848,690.00 (Eight Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety Naira) property of Skye Bank Plc,” one of the 39-count charge reads.

Odunayo had earlier pleaded not guilty to the 39-count charge brought against him, but later changed his plea following a plea bargain.

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However, in her ruling on Monday, Justice Akinlade sentenced the defendant to one 115 years imprisonment; three years on each of the 39-count charge. They are to run concurrently. The sentence is to start from the date of his arrest.

According to a statement by the EFCC, “the journey to prison began on May 19, 2011, when the commission received a petition from a bank, alleging that one of its staff who was a Cash Pick up Officer to one of its customers, did not credit the customer’s account.”

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“The customer alerted the bank, when she discovered that the sum of N8,829,650 was not credited into her account. The convict consequently absconded from his duty post to evade arrest.

“However, Odunayo in his statement stated that, he started stealing from the customer’s account in November 2010, due to delay in payment of his salary. He started with N50,000 and later increased it till it reached the sum of N848,690.